Rapid battery drain after Mavericks Install

Question

Hey everyone,
I've spent a lot of time reviewing the existing threads and haven't been able to pinpoint a solution to my issue. I upgraded my late 2008 MacBook Aluminum 2.4 GHZ to Mavericks, and noticed considerable battery drain. I made an appointment at the Apple Store to do a clean install of Mavericks, and this seemed to help but as I installed software required to access internet at school (SafeConnect, AnyConnect VPN, Avast) my battery life has gone down again. Also, the battery drains when the computer is supposed to be in sleep mode. I have a new battery on board (127 cycles, my cycle count has increased a lot due to this battery drain issue). Does anyone have an idea of what could be the offending software and provide me potential alternatives?
Some numbers for reference: With Snow Leopard I have 3.5 hrs of battery life, and after my initial clean install I had 3.5 hrs of battery life (so no improvement, but no worse performance either..). Now I am lucky to make 2 hrs with a full charge.
Loaded kernel extensions:
com.avast.PacketForwarder (1.4)
com.cisco.kext.acsock (1.1.0)
com.avast.AvastFileShield (2.1.0)
Loaded user agents:
com.avast.helper
com.hp.devicemonitor
scClient
com.oracle.java.Java-Updater
com.cisco.anyconnect.gui
com.avast.userinit
com.spotify.webhelper
com.avast.home.userinit
Inserted libraries:
User cron tasks:
System launchd configuration:
User launchd configuration:
Login items:
Flux
iTunesHelper
Safari extensions:
wrc
AdBlock
Restricted user files: 12
Extrinsic loadable bundles:
/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/Flash Player.plugin
/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin
/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin
/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/SharePointWebKitPlugin.webplugin
/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/Silverlight.plugin
/Library/PreferencePanes/Avast.prefPane/Avast.prefPane
/Library/PreferencePanes/Avast.prefPane
/Library/PreferencePanes/Flash Player.prefPane
/Library/PreferencePanes/JavaControlPanel.prefPane
/Library/Spotlight/Microsoft Office.mdimporter
Unsigned shared libraries:
/Library/LaunchAgents:
Safe.Connect.client.plist
com.avast.userinit.plist
com.cisco.anyconnect.gui.plist
com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist
/Library/LaunchDaemons:
Safe.Connect.plist
com.adobe.fpsaud.plist
com.avast.init.plist
com.avast.uninstall.plist
com.cisco.anyconnect.vpnagentd.plist
com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist
com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist
net.cloudpath.HelperTool.plist
/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools:
com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper
net.cloudpath.HelperTool
/Library/StartupItems:
Library/Fonts:
Library/LaunchAgents:
com.avast.home.userinit.plist
com.spotify.webhelper.plist

Answer 1

Avast is garbage. Uninstall it according to its instructions. Avast's uninstaller will remove it completely.
If your school requires you to use Avast you will just have to tolerate its detrimental effects on your Mac's performance and battery life.